


Twisting Hands

by teaandtumblr



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Introspection, Sign Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23493577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teaandtumblr/pseuds/teaandtumblr
Summary: It had been a habit Yuugi had had for as long as Anzu could remember. That wasn’t to say she had known him particularly long. She’d met Yuugi during the first semester of high school, not too long after Jonouchi and Honda had. They were in their third year now and maybe two years wasn’t that long to know someone but Anzu figured that with everything they’d been through, they were closer than some. But still, Yuugi had done it since the day she’d met him.The habit, simply put, was this: Yuugi always twisted his hands together.
Relationships: Mutou Yuugi & Yami Yuugi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	Twisting Hands

**Author's Note:**

> this was a 300 word thing that's been sitting in my google docs for about four years. finally decided to beef it out and post it. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

***

It had been a habit Yuugi had had for as long as Anzu could remember. That wasn’t to say she had known him particularly long. She’d met Yuugi during the first semester of high school, not too long after Jonouchi and Honda had. They were in their third year now and maybe two years wasn’t that long to know someone but Anzu figured that with everything they’d been through, they were closer than some. But still, Yuugi had done it since the day she’d met him. 

The habit, simply put, was this: Yuugi always twisted his hands together.

Whether it was at school, at home, walking places. Whether he was alone or with others, he always did it. His hands constantly tumbled together, wringing like they were nervous. Yuugi did it during class, occasionally having to bite back a laugh like he just thought something funny. He’d do it walking home and get so distracted that Jonouchi would have to stop him from stepping out into oncoming traffic. Anzu’s caught him doing several times whilst bent over his coffee table, duel monsters cards spread in every which direction. She’s half convinced Yuugi doesn’t even realise he’s doing it. It’s beyond a habit at this point, more of a nervous tick.

Anzu almost hates that he does it. Not because he shouldn’t do it or she thinks it makes Yuugi look weird - it doesn’t, not at all - but mostly because she knows why. She didn’t have to be a genius to know that Jonouchi and Honda weren’t the first people to bully Yuugi. Yuugi didn’t talk about elementary or middle school and whenever they’d tried to pry, he’d casually brushed them off. So, unfortunately, Anzu was of the opinion that Yuugi hadn’t had friends during that time. Which meant:

The gestures? Yuugi’s way of talking when there was no one to talk to.

Because Yuugi talked a lot. Yes, he was meek and mild, but once he got comfortable around someone he was borderline unstoppable. Anzu had been victim to it many a time. She could even remember one hilarious time when Mokuba and Yuugi had been discussing building Mokuba a deck when Kaiba had walked in and she’d never seen Yuugi as confident in that moment as he and Kaiba went at it for hours, debating every single card. 

Which made the thought of Yuugi having to silence himself for years heart-breaking. His way of “talking” was somehow even more so. It’s partially why Anzu had never brought it up. She didn’t want to embarrass Yuugi, or make him admit to something he wasn’t ready to. 

The only time Yuugi didn’t twist his hands was when he was dueling, which wasn’t too much of a surprise. For one, Yuugi was probably already distracted enough and two, it generally wasn’t Yuugi that duelled. Anzu was well aware of the “other me”, the spirit that resided within the Millennium Puzzle. Whereas Yuugi was perhaps nervous enough to fidget, the other me certainly was not. He exuded confidence that went beyond measure. The other me was almost everything Yuugi wasn’t.

Which somehow made it all worse when Yuugi’s habit suddenly stopped.

It stopped just like that.

One day Yuugi had been twisting his hands together and the next day he hadn’t been. 

And suddenly Anzu knew the connection.

Because one day other me had been with them and the next day he hadn’t. They’d said their goodbyes, Yuugi had duelled him, helped his spirit pass on into the afterlife, allowed him to be at peace with those he held most dear. And with it, the closest friend Yuugi had ever had, physically and emotionally. The one person he couldn’t actually talk to. The one person who’d joked with him in class, made teasing observations on the way home, had had as much right to Yuugi’s deck as Yuugi had. 

Anzu wondered why none of them noticed sooner. Why none of them recognised the vague attempt at sign language, clearly learnt in a hurry and slapped together and short-handed as needed. She wondered why she’d never just asked Yuugi about it, as simple as it was.

Because maybe if she had…

Maybe, maybe Yuugi wouldn’t have looked so lonely.

***

**Author's Note:**

> i have a love for sign language and secret languages. .xx Dan


End file.
